Excerpt from The Trade Policy of Imperial Federation From an Economic Point of View Theory is an assumption of knowledge of the causes which produce known results. To be of any use it must not alone explain the causes of known results in the past, but must be able to predict the future results of (assumedly) known causes. It must in fact be prospective as well as retrospective. When it fulfils these conditions it becomes a fact. If it does not fulfil these conditions, it remains useless - nay, worse than useless, for it chains men's minds to argu ment instead of inquiry. Fact is proven, incontrovertible Law of Cause and Effect based either upon perfected theory or upon obvious consequence of action. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.